Living in a Nightmare
by AlexaNDYE
Summary: My rendition of "Imagine Person A waking up from a terrible nightmare, complete terrified and shaking. Person B assures them it was only a dream before pulling A into their arms, lulling them to sleep. Moments later, A's alarm clock goes off, waking them up. That's when A remembers: Person B died years ago."


Tony couldn't breathe. Of course, that's how all his nightmares started. He found himself walking down the hall, hearing Obediah's harmful and disgraceful words. And then he heard Justin Hammer—that man always knew what to say to him. The way he said 'Anthony' made his blood boil. Ivan Vanko laughed at him and called him a 'fake', and then he saw Aldrich Killian. Tony stopped in front of him and stared, and Aldrich leaned closer to him. His lips were right up against his ear; he said a few words and then he disappeared.

"Pepper," Tony gasped as he saw Pepper appear before him.

Her hair was a lighter shade of orange, and it cascaded past her shoulders. She wore a loose light blue blouse and a grey pencil skirt. They both knew it was his favorite combination. She stood there, in all her glory, with her hands in front of her lap; she looked absolutely stunning. Tony was speechless and all he could do was smile when she did. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, kiss her, and never let go. Her smile could light up his whole life in an instant, and for a second, he forgot the rest of the world. She always had that effect of him.

Aldrich appeared behind her; his eyes were hooded and dark. He looked like a reaper that was about to leech the life off its victim. When he smiled, his teeth were white, but his lips were dry. Tony could feel Aldrich feed off the power that surged through his body, mad with power and consumed by darkness. Dark circles formed underneath his eyes, and then, all of a sudden, his body began to glow bright orange.

"Don't…" Tony warned him as he felt his heart stop.

Aldrich placed his hands on Pepper's shoulders, and her smile disappeared.

"Tony…" Pepper muttered; she sounded scared and worried.

"Pepper!" Tony yelled. He ran towards her, but each step forwards felt like a step backwards. He couldn't reach her, no matter how hard he tried, and it frustrated him. He heard her gasp, and all at once, his world crumbled.

Aldrich's smile was sinister and devilish, and when his hands glowed bright orange, everything he touched began to melt. Pepper gasped at the feeling of her shoulders burning on contact, and slowly, but surely, her body started to melt as well.

Pepper stared at Tony, waiting for him to save her, waiting for him to do something, but he never did. He couldn't—he couldn't save her. Her arm reached out, and her finger tips stretched as she tried to reach him. He did the same and tried to grab onto her hand, but he couldn't reach it. She was begging him to save her. He tried harder and harder, and finally, he felt her fingertips brush against his, but moments later, he watched her body explode into ashes.

"NOOOOO!" Tony screamed, feeling his legs crumble beneath him. He knelt in front of the ashes and felt them slip through his fingers. His eyes watered and his hands shook as he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. He looked up at Aldrich with seething hatred and anger, and he simply smiled back, loving every single ounce of pain he was causing Tony.

Aldrich shrugged as a slight smirk graced his lips. "Oops. Fingers slipped."

The wind swept the ashes from Tony's grasp. His heart ached and tears threatened to roll down his cheeks, because he wasn't given a chance to say good-bye to her. She left him without a word and he couldn't cope like that. The realization of her death broke him; he couldn't hold her one last time, or tell her that he loved her. He would no longer be able to feel her fingers mold perfectly between his, or hear her calming and soothing voice. She was dead, and there was nothing he could do.

His body was filled with rage and his hands were looking for revenge.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Tony." Aldrich smiled. "Let's be honest here. You really didn't deserve her anyways." He began to laugh and laugh. His voice was more menacing than Obediah's.

Tony woke up with a loud gasp, and his body was covered in a cold sweat. His hands shook and he could barely breathe. His heart pounded in his chest, and felt his chest ached. His heartbeat boomed loudly in his ears. He cursed under his breath and screwed his eyes shut—he could still hear the laughter ring in his ears.

"Tony?" He heard her voice.

The laughter stopped and his eyes opened. Her voice was like the calming of the storm; she was always at his side, making sure he was okay, and comforting him when he needed it. His heart swelled as he felt her rub calming circles onto his back and then press a light kiss to his shoulder. He turned to face her and saw the worried look.

"You okay?" She asked softly.

He wiped at the corner of his eyes and felt tears spread along the pads of his fingers. "I'm fine." He choked out.

She knew he was lying. "Was it another nightmare?"

He didn't answer; it was all too familiar to her. She was used to the nights when he wouldn't tell her what was wrong, or talk to her about his problems. She tried to coax him into talking to her, but every single time she tried to get a word out of him, he would change the subject.

"Tony, I know you don't want to talk about it, but if they keep coming back…" She paused and searched his eyes for some kind of plea for comfort. "...I'm worried about you, and I'm worried your own nightmares are going to swallow you whole." She ran her hand through his hair and felt him lean against her. He was silently searching for comfort and reassurance, because he didn't want to look vulnerable and pathetic… not in front of her.

He finally spoke. "I don't want to lose you, Pepper." He mumbled and dipped his head to the side so he could lean on her shoulder. She brought her hand down from his head and wrapped her arm around him, pulling him against her chest.

"I know." Her smile was small. He couldn't count the number of times she was there to calm him down. He was grateful for her patience and her love—and Aldrich was right. He didn't deserve her… he never did, but he was always too selfish to let her go.

"Please… don't leave me."

"I won't." She wrapped her other arm around him and held him tight.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck and tried not to cry—he didn't understand why he wanted to cry.

"I love you, Pepper." Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

Pepper held him tighter and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "I love you, too, Tony. I love you so much."

His eyes slowly closed, and before he knew it, he woke up. His eyes slowly opened and then he sat up. He rubbed his eyes to rid them of the sand, but found tears instead.

Confused and befuddled, he looked beside him and found the spot to be empty.

"JARVIS?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Did Pepper go to work this morning? Can you tell her I'll swing by her office this afternoon?"

"I do not understand your request." JARVIS responded; he sounded unsure and slightly confused. "Vitals indicate no sign of illness. Are you feeling okay?"

"What do you mean? I feel fine—and what do you mean you don't understand my request? If you're on Pepper's side again, I don't want to hear it. You two gang up on me way too much, and I'm beginning to think you forgot who programmed you."

"Sir." There was a pause. "Miss Potts passed away twelve days ago."

Tony's mouth went dry. "What?—No… that can't—" He looked over at the spot next to him, and it was unoccupied and bare. "No…" He could feel his heart start to break into a million pieces. "…But I just… She was just here. Last night, I woke up and she—"

He covered his mouth with his hand, and held back the whimpers and the cries of pain and anguish. A tear ran down his cheek at the sudden realization and remembrance of the funeral. He stayed by her casket for a duration of the day, not wanting to leave her side. He was pulled away, almost by force, by Rhodey and Bruce. He remembered screaming for her, cursing himself for letting her leave him, and then coming home to drown himself in alcohol. He cried for her, asking why she had to leave him whilst remembering all those times when she promised she wouldn't.

He felt a stinging sensation in his hand, and when he looked down, he saw bandages. He remembers throwing his glass of alcohol at the wall, and then yelling, screaming, and pleading for her to come back, and no matter what he did or said, she never did. She was gone, and there was nothing he could do to bring her back. The glass cut into his hands, but he didn't care about the pain, because none of it came close to the gut-wrenching feeling when Pepper died in his arms.

Bruce was the one who bandaged his hands up; he came up to Tony's penthouse to check up on him, and found glass and alcohol litter the living room floor. Tony's palm was covered in blood and his eyes were red from crying. Bruce had never seen him so beat up and lifeless before.

"Oh god." A sob escaped his lips. "Please…" he begged.

He touched the sheets where she'd lay and then the pillow. They were both cold.

"Please, Pepper. Please… don't…" He brought the pillow up to his nose, but the scent was faint and fading. His heart felt empty and his chest hurt. Was this how it was like to feel heartbroken—like someone reached inside your heart and ripped out everything with one pull? He hugged the pillow to his chest and held on as tight as he could. "Pepper…" He cried softly and screwed his eyes shut, feeling the tears effortlessly roll down his cheeks and drip off his chin. His cries echoed off the walls of his empty penthouse. No one could hear him; he was alone, and emotionally beat up.

He was living in his own nightmare and consumed by his worst fear.


End file.
